BY ALFRED H. MILES.
The bells were ringing their cheerful chimes
In the old grey belfry tow'r,
The choir were singing their carols betimes
In the wintry midnight hour,
The waits were playing with eerie drawl
"The mistletoe hung in the castle hall,"
And the old policeman was stomping his feet
As he quiver'd and shiver'd along on his beat;
The snow was falling as fast as it could
O'er city and hamlet, forest and wood,
And Jack Frost, busy with might and main,
Was sketching away at each window-pane;
Father Christinas was travelling fast,
Mid the fall of the snow and the howl of the blast,
With millions of turkeys for millions to taste,
And millions of puddings all tied to his waist,
And millions of mince-pies that scented the air,
To cover the country with Christmas fare,--
When over the hills, from far away,
Came Santa Claus with the dawn of day;
He rode on a cycle, as seasons do,
With Christmas behind him a-tandem too;
His pockets were bigger than sacks from the mill--
The Soho Bazaar would not one of them fill,
And the Lowther Arcade and the good things that stock it
Would travel with ease in his tiniest pocket.
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